Leggy's first car: MINI Cooper

[Leggy1]

Here is my first car that I bought recently, a 2002 MINI Cooper. It's a 1.6 litre petrol, with 114hp when it was new, and has a 5-speed manual. It's done 115,000 miles, but it's in good condition for the age and miles. The colour is Liquid Yellow (not to everyone's taste), with black roof, mirrors and wheels.

Why did I buy it? Well simply, I needed a car. But, it is surprisingly cheap to insure (black box insurance though). I didn't want one of the usual first cars (Corsa, Clio, Fiesta etc.) and I wanted something with character. The colour scheme is perfect in my opinion, I like the retro looks too. The interior is good, but only for those in the front, there's no space in the back.

So far I love it, the steering is very good, I don't mind the firm ride and the seats are comfy. It's been mechanically fine so far and generally exceeded my expectations for an old (ish) first car.

A few pictures (I'll post some more when it's clean and not frosty):

 

[Ronald6]

Is that a HUD?

Excellent first car. 👍

 

[Davis]

Glorious.

 

[Clark]

Shane about the black wheels (and the black box) but otherwise very cool first car. I think the original BINI will probably go down in years to come as the best and most liked out, the successive BINIs have got more bloated and a bit OTT with the styling. (Like the speedo getting bigger with each generation).

114bhp is a lot for a first car in the UK as well!

 

[Legro]

Great choice for a first car. Not original Mini, but they don't make as much sense as a first car as they used to do and I learned to drive in a 2003 Cooper S and it's actually very nice car to drive.

 

[Leggy1]

Thanks guys

Is that a HUD?

Excellent first car. 👍

Yes it is, plugs into the diagnostics port. Best £25 I've spent. As much as I like the look of the big speedo, I don't like looking down at it.

Shane about the black wheels (and the black box)

I love black wheels, these are 17s which aren't too comfy. The black box has been surprisingly good, I don't drive slowly (I don't speed either) but my insurer has given me good feedback so far. My driving is rated every week or so, I get a score that determines how much of a discount or fine I get. On top of having the cheapest insurance for this car, I'm on for a good discount too.

 

[Jason]

Very nice. My first and current car is a Cooper S. Mini's are an excellent first car. 👍

 

[Leggy1]

Very nice. My first and current car is a Cooper S.

First gen MINI?

So I bought some normal black plastidip, I'm thinking of doing the horizontal bars on the upper and lower front grilles (they can be removed separately). But I want to leave the outer ring chrome. Same as on the One:

That's what I would like my grille to look like, I think it would go with the black mirrors/roof/wheels. What do you guys think?

 

[Doog]

So I bought some normal black plastidip, I'm thinking of doing the horizontal bars on the upper and lower front grilles (they can be removed separately). But I want to leave the outer ring chrome.

Personally, I'd advise against it. My mom's Mini came in the configuration you described, though instead of a black grille, it's body-colored.

While I didn't think too much of it at first, I can't help but immediately be drawn to that chrome ring around the grille. Perhaps you'll like it, but I find it to be awkward-looking after seeing it long enough.

 

[Jason]

First gen MINI?/QUOTE]

Here she is

 

[Davis]

I think the black grille looks nice with your setup, but I'm biased to the chrome one myself.

Or you could always just put on the JCW Aero grille but it's pricey.

 

[Jason]

I think the black grille looks nice with your setup, but I'm biased to the chrome one myself.

Or you could always just put on the JCW Aero grille but it's pricey.

I thought about purchasing a blacked out grill for mine. Makes the car look a lot more bad:censored:, in my opinion.

 

[Joey D]

I miss my Cooper, it was such a fun little car. Hope it treats you well!

 

[Hayden]

I like the HUD a lot man! Who makes it?

I think blacking out the bars in your grill would look pretty tough 👍

 

[Leggy1]

For @Hayden and others interested in the HUD, some rubbish iPod photos at night. Speed in the middle (mph or km/h), economy in the top right (l/100km) and a rev counter.

Spoiler: HUD

Link on Amazon.

It works fine, however the instruction manual is badly translated, from Korean I think.

Here she is

View attachment 272068

Lovely red and white, classic

I was hoping to do some car work this weekend. Give her a proper clean and do the Plastidip on the grille bars as intended, but my girlfriend has stolen my time. Hopefully I'll give her a wash at least, dirt shows up really easily.

I think the black grille looks nice with your setup, but I'm biased to the chrome one myself.

Or you could always just put on the JCW Aero grille but it's pricey.

If I had a Cooper S, it would look like that. Maybe if I had blue or red with white I would leave all the chrome. I did consider buying a new grille until I saw the prices.

 

[Kitten]

Here is my first car that I bought recently, a 2002 MINI Cooper. It's a 1.6 litre petrol, with 114hp when it was new, and has a 5-speed manual. It's done 115,000 miles, but it's in good condition for the age and miles. The colour is Liquid Yellow (not to everyone's taste), with black roof, mirrors and wheels.

Why did I buy it? Well simply, I needed a car. But, it is surprisingly cheap to insure (black box insurance though). I didn't want one of the usual first cars (Corsa, Clio, Fiesta etc.) and I wanted something with character. The colour scheme is perfect in my opinion, I like the retro looks too. The interior is good, but only for those in the front, there's no space in the back.

So far I love it, the steering is very good, I don't mind the firm ride and the seats are comfy. It's been mechanically fine so far and generally exceeded my expectations for an old (ish) first car.

A few pictures (I'll post some more when it's clean and not frosty):

View attachment 270858
View attachment 270860
View attachment 270859

Honestly. This is the best year of Mini's. The Gauge Cluster is beyond beautiful. Very clean bro!

 

[Leggy1]

Honestly. This is the best year of Mini's. The Gauge Cluster is beyond beautiful. Very clean bro!

Thanks The best generation of BMW MINI's for sure.

 

[Jason]

Thanks The best generation of BMW MINI's for sure.

I agree. How do you like having the speedometer in the middle? Mine came with the optional chrono pack.

 

[Leggy1]

I agree. How do you like having the speedometer in the middle? Mine came with the optional chrono pack.

I dont like it, that's why I bought the HUD. It would be nice to have speed on the little screen in the rev counter, but I only have temperature there.

 

[Leggy1]

So I dipped my radiator grille, it was simple enough really, just popped out. The outer ring is separate from the bars in the middle. Here she is now:

 

[Doog]

That turned out a lot nicer than I thought it would. 👍

 

[Leggy1]

That turned out a lot nicer than I thought it would. 👍

Thanks

 

[synchromesh]

Here is my first car that I bought recently, a 2002 MINI Cooper. It's a 1.6 litre petrol, with 114hp when it was new, and has a 5-speed manual. It's done 115,000 miles, but it's in good condition for the age and miles. The colour is Liquid Yellow (not to everyone's taste), with black roof, mirrors and wheels.

Why did I buy it? Well simply, I needed a car. But, it is surprisingly cheap to insure (black box insurance though). I didn't want one of the usual first cars (Corsa, Clio, Fiesta etc.) and I wanted something with character. The colour scheme is perfect in my opinion, I like the retro looks too. The interior is good, but only for those in the front, there's no space in the back.

So far I love it, the steering is very good, I don't mind the firm ride and the seats are comfy. It's been mechanically fine so far and generally exceeded my expectations for an old (ish) first car.

A few pictures (I'll post some more when it's clean and not frosty):

View attachment 270858
View attachment 270860
View attachment 270859

Absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Leggy1]

Filled up with fuel yesterday, I only did 35mpg (29 US mpg) on the last tank . But with petrol so cheap right now I guess it doesn't matter as much.

Tank brimmed for a Pass Plus driving course tomorrow, down to London to do motorway and city driving, which I haven't done so far being in Norfolk. Also the first long trip in my car, should be interesting.

--------------

And it was very interesting, first snow of the year and I had to drive in it. Although fortunately it wasn't too bad in the South East. Snow and sleet for the majority of the journey, which was mostly motorway. A good experience though and it'll make my insurance a little cheaper.

 

[Leggy1]

MINI is celebrating her 13th birthday this month

Anyway another longish trip down to Heathrow for a week. 265 miles in total. I find it very good at motorways, except for quite loud tire noise. It feels very stable at 70mph for a small car, and having cruise control is excellent.

And just passed 117k miles.

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice choice of car, those are a lot of fun.

One suggestion, if you're open to it: Lose the 17" daisy wheels and put on a set of 15" pepperpots with appropriate tyres. You get noticeable improvements in ride quality and steering feel (the 15s are significantly lighter than the 17s) without losing much in the way of grip. Plus, good tyres for 15s are cheaper. You may find the tyre noise on the motorway subsides too. Many, many reasons to get the 15s.

I also happen to think the smaller wheel/taller tyre combo looks better on a retro design like the MINI, but that's more a personal preference thing.

 

[Leggy1]

Thanks

I actually like the wheel design and colour, but 17s are too big. My tires are not good for road noise either, some better ones when the time comes will help with that.

The problem is the insurance. As I'm 17, some new wheels (even standard MINI ones) will push the price up hundreds of pounds. Any modification would have the same effect, apparently the plastidip grille doesn't count as one though. Ideally I would like some winter or all season tyres (currently on high performance summer) with some smaller wheels, as I have no grip on the way to work when it's icy. I do agree that MINIs still look good on small wheels, but any wheels for mine would have to be black.

 

[Leggy1]

Chilly MINI:

And now for a couple of problems, firstly:

It's a common MINI Mk1 issue caused by seat wiring. And it's an MOT failure, but that's not until November.

Also, the exhaust is blowing quite badly. It's got uncomfortably loud in the past week or two. So I bought a replacement for £60, ignore the other junk:

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Shane about the black wheels (and the black box) but otherwise very cool first car. I think the original BINI will probably go down in years to come as the best and most liked out, the successive BINIs have got more bloated and a bit OTT with the styling. (Like the speedo getting bigger with each generation).

114bhp is a lot for a first car in the UK as well!

The black wheels look perfect on this car.


@leggy I have always liked these Minis. Congrats!

 

[Leggy1]

The black wheels look perfect on this car.

Certainly do, silver doesn't work so well with the black roof and mirrors.

I have always liked these Minis. Congrats!

Thanks!